Etymology

From Ancient GreekCategory:English terms derived from Ancient Greek#EPISTEMIC ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “knowledge; science”) + English -ic (suffix meaning of or pertaining to forming adjectives from nouns)^[1] (compare modern Greek επιστημικός (epistimikós, “relating to science, scientific”)). Ἐπιστήμη (Epistḗmē) is derived from ἐπῐ́στᾰμαι (epĭ́stămai, “to have knowledge of, know”) (from ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, prefix meaning ‘all over; on, on top of’) + ῐ̔́στημῐ (hĭ́stēmĭ, “to stand; to weigh”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-EuropeanCategory:English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European#EPISTEMIC *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”))) + -η (-ē, suffix forming action nouns).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɛpɪˈstiːmɪk/, /-ˈstɛ-/Category:English 4-syllable words#EPISTEMICCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#EPISTEMIC

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#EPISTEMIC
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛpəˈstimɪk/, /-ˈstɛ-/Category:English 4-syllable words#EPISTEMICCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#EPISTEMIC
• Rhymes: -iːmɪk, -ɛmɪkCategory:Rhymes:English/iːmɪk#EPISTEMICCategory:Rhymes:English/iːmɪk/4 syllables#EPISTEMICCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛmɪk#EPISTEMICCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛmɪk/4 syllables#EPISTEMIC
• Hyphenation: epi‧stem‧ic

Adjective

epistemic (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#EPISTEMICCategory:English adjectives#EPISTEMICCategory:English uncomparable adjectives#EPISTEMICCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#EPISTEMICCategory:Pages with entries#EPISTEMICCategory:Pages with 1 entry#EPISTEMIC

2. (philosophyCategory:en:Philosophy#EPISTEMIC) Of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired. [from early 19th c.]

   Antonym: nonepistemic

   • 2008 July 1, Paul Vincent Spade, “Medieval Theories of Obligationes”, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy‎, archived from the original on 23 October 2012:

     Second, note the role of the respondent's epistemic state. It is a factor in determining the correct replies, but only when the propositum is irrelevant.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EPISTEMIC

   • 2018, Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts, “Epistemic Crisis”, in Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN:

     This chapter describes the contours of the epistemic crisis in media and politics that threatens the integrity of democratic processes, erodes trust in public institutions, and exacerbates social divisions.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EPISTEMIC

3. (by extension, linguisticsCategory:en:Linguistics#EPISTEMIC) Of or relating to how cognition or knowledge is expressed in language.

   Antonym: deontic

   • 1981 April, Martin Warner, “Metaphor and Thought. Edited by Andrew Ortony. London, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 1979. x+501 pp. £20.00 (paperbound £7.50). [book review]”, in C. C. Smith, editor, The Modern Language Review, volume 76, number 2, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Modern Humanities Research Association, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 428:

     Professor [Richard] Boyd provides a powerful argument for the conclusion that in the sciences metaphor is often theory-constitutive, by means of an important modification of the causal theory of reference in terms of ‘epistemic access’; Metaphors provide epistemic access to the world via the articulation of new ideas at a stage when literal language cannot cope, enabling us with increasing accuracy to accommodate language to the world.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EPISTEMIC

5. (philosophyCategory:en:Philosophy#EPISTEMIC) Of or relating to epistemology (“the branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge”); epistemologic or epistemological.
   • 2000 July, Timm Triplett, “The Philosophy of Roderick M. Chisholm. Edited by Lewis Edwin Hahn. The Library of Living Philosophers, vol. 25. Chicago and La Salle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, 1997. Pp. xviii, 738. [book review]”, in Richard Boyd et al., editors, The Philosophical Review, volume 109, number 3, Ithaca, N.Y.: Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 452:

     [Robert] Audi considers whether [Roderick Milton] Chisholm might be able to incorporate into his epistemic system an internalist evidential grounding requirement addressing this question.

     Category:English terms with quotations#EPISTEMIC

References